Carriage horse dead after collapsing in Manhattan
Rally held in response to death of carriage horse
Animal advocates and local leaders will hold a rally after a carriage horse collapsed and died in Manhattan yesterday. FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini has the details.
HELL'S KITCHEN - Heartbreaking scenes in Hell's Kitchen when a horse collapsed and died on the street on Tuesday.
Carriage horse dead
What we know:
The horse collapsed near the corner of West 51st Street and 11th Avenue.
Video provided to FOX 5 NY by nonprofit animal rights organization NYCLASS shows the horse lying down at the intersection.
The 15-year-old horse, whose name was Lady, had only been working in the city for less than two months.
Inside the stables
Lady suddenly collapsed after working on Tuesday. She was only about a block from Clinton Park Stables in Hell's Kitchen, where 90 horses are housed.
The horses are rotated in and out of work based on vacation, and each horse gets five weeks of vacation per year.
All the horses are also seen by a veterinarian twice a year.
Horse carriage driver and spokesperson for the industry Christina Hansen told FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini, "Our horses are better protected than people's pet horses and show horses… Lady did not die because she was a carriage horse, she died because she was a living being."
What we don't know:
It is not currently known why the horse collapsed.
There will be a necropsy to determine her cause of death – a necropsy is the equivalent of an autopsy for humans.
What they're saying:
Carriage horses have become an extremely controversial issue in New York City.
NYCLASS said in a statement: "Lady's death is the result of a failed system… Horses are collapsing, suffering and dying over and over again – and nothing changes."
The organization also called on city officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to support the passage of Ryder's Law, a bill that would prohibit the issuance of new licenses used in the operation of horse-drawn cabs.
A statement was also provided by Voters for Animal Rights:
Animal rights advocates, including PETA and NYCLASS, will hold a rally with some local officials in response to the incident later today.
The other side:
The city's horse carriage industry says they and the NYC Health Department follow air quality standards developed by California because of the state's wildfires.
FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt reports that she was told that the NYC horse carriage industry is currently operating within proper guidelines as the city feels the effects of the Canadian wildfires.
Dig deeper:
Horse-drawn carriages have plied Central Park and the city’s streets for over 150 years. There are a total of 68 carriages and 200 horses in New York City, Schmidt reports.
Animal advocates, however, say it’s inhumane to have horses navigating Manhattan traffic.
Over the years, some horses have gotten startled, run off and collided with cars or other objects. This summer, a carriage driver went on trial over a horse's 2022 collapse.
Supporters of horse-drawn carriages see the coaches as a romantic remnant of a bygone New York. They also note that the carriages net tourist dollars and have provided hundreds of jobs for drivers, plus jobs for a glut of farm and racing horses.
The Source: This article includes information provided by animal rights organization NYCLASS, reporting from the Associated Press and reporting by FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt and Stephanie Bertini.